OK, so you received some book tokens in your Christmas stocking and you’re wondering what to spend them on…well, wonder no longer.
Because we have three books that ticked all the boxes for us and we hope you will love them just as much as we do.
Midnight at the Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan
First up is the brand new feel-good Christmas novel from Sunday Times top-10 bestselling author, Jenny Colgan.
Midnight at the Christmas Bookshop is another classic Colgan that sees bookseller Carmen at a loose end. Her gorgeous bookshop is the filming location for a cheesy Christmas movie, she’s been ousted from her sister’s house, and the love of her life has just flown thousands of miles away. It’s threatening to be a very unjolly Christmas indeed!
But when the elderly owner of the shop comes to Carmen with a Christmas wish that threatens to never come true, Carmen knows she must buckle down to get the funds to save not only his trip, but the shop itself.
While fending off a shady tatt-selling businessman, Carmen discovers wonders to the shop she could have never imagined and opens a labyrinth of bookish backrooms for the customers to get lost in.
With her deadline looming, it might take more than a fresh coat of paint to solve Carmen’s problems. But with the help of the shop’s neighbours, her nieces and nephew, and a very distractingly cute male nanny, Carmen might just pull her greatest magic trick yet.
Seafood Journey: Tastes and Tales from Scotland by Ghillie Basan with foreword by Gary Maclean (winner of Masterchef: The Professionals)
Scotland has some of the best seafood in the world, so why don’t we eat more of it? Why don’t we highlight the bounty of our seas and the people who fish, produce, sell, preserve and cook it?
These are the questions that saw acclaimed cookery writer Ghillie Basan embark on a journey around Scotland’s coastline and over to the islands to capture the essence of our nation’s seafood through the stories of fisherman, farmers, artisan smokers and curers, boat builders and net makers, creels and shacks, skin tanners and age-old traditions.
In addition, she offers 90 original recipes showcasing the wonderful produce she encounters on her journeys to all parts of the country.
This book is an inspiration and we loved the stories from the people who make their living from our land, including Ian MacKinnon of Arisaig Mussels (Loch Ailort), Gus Newman and Harold Hastie of Islay Sea Adventures, who are also commercial fishermen, and Alasdair Hughson, who’s favourite places to fish are the Sound of Mull and the pristine tidal waters around Jura, Harris and the Uists.
This is a book for foodies – it looks gorgeous thanks to the beautiful photographs by Lynne Kennedy and a number of others, plus the beautifully illustrated cover image, while the stories combined with Ghillie’s mouth-watering recipes means it is very, very difficult to put down.
This is a real treat of a book.
Wild Isle Style: Resourceful And Sustainable Interior Design Ideas by Banjo Beale
There can’t be very few people who have not heard of Mull’s interior design guru.
Banjo Beale is an Australian interior designer based in on the Isle of Mull, having burst into our consciousness after winning the Interior Design Masters. Banjo is one of the hosts of Scotland’s Home of the Year and Scotland’s Christmas Home of the Year 2023, as well as hosting Designing the Hebrides, all on BBC.
Living on Mull has inspired Banjo to be resourceful and inventive in his design outlook. With sustainability and budget in mind, he combines vintage finds with clever design and repurposes the old, reimagining it into something new. From contemporary to classic, his spaces are characterful, curated and eco-conscious.
In his first book Wild Isle Style, Banjo encourages people to give design a go and create their own signature style. No matter your look, this book will uncover universal ideas that you can easily implement into your home interiors. It’s an accessible roadmap to creating authentic and sustainable design that doesn’t cost the earth.
The book, which is as gorgeous to look at as the photographs and interiors displayed within, includes interviews with collectors, sellers and makers, and the combination is not only a great read, but encourages us to have fun with our interiors, showing us how to turn shopping into an adventure while ensuring we don’t blow our budget.
It’s one of those books that you will turn to again and again for inspiration and ideas.
10 Scotland Street by Leslie Hills
For lovers of popular history, this is the sort of wonderfully random project which grabs your attention and never lets go. The author is a lm producer who lives in at the Edinburgh New Town address of the title, and decided to take a deep dive into the history of her home from its erection in 1824 to the day she arrived in 1974.
What she found is an extraordinary tale that spreads its tentacles across the globe, and which paints a fascinating portrait of its 150 years before Hills’ arrival.
It’s a story that encompasses several major wars, the slave plantations of the Caribbean, the rapacious trading of the East India Company, the fortunes of a blacksmith in New Zealand and a Victorian surgeon in Bonar Bridge.
In short, the whole warp and weft of life is here, laid bare as Hills’ sleuthing strips back the fog of history to reveal those who once inhabited the at that she now calls home.
Peat and Whisky: the Unbreakable Bond by Mike Billett
Billett is a whisky a cionado but, far more importantly, a peatland scientist. The combination produces that rarest of things: a genuinely unique perspective.
This book is described as ‘a love letter to Scotland and the unique substance that forms part of the DNA of Scotch whisky’ and it lives up to that billing. It is essentially a journey through the ancient peatlands which have spawned and sustained the national drink, a travelogue which provides context, and separates the spirit from the spiritual.
Billett asks: if peat is the essence of Scotch whisky, what does a future dominated by a climate emergency hold? In doing so, he looks back as much as he looks forward, melding tradition and science.
An indispensable read for any whisky lover.
Murder at Holly House by Denzil Meyrick
Denzil Meyrick establishes a cosy and festive setting while simultaneously providing continuous suspense by deploying all the elements of a classic whodunnit.
A body is found at Holly House during Christmas time in the small town of Elderby, and the inspector Grasby is appointed to solve the mysterious murder. As he delves deeper into the investigation, he realises that the small town and its people are not all they may seem.
Yorkshire humour and awed characters make it an amusing and memorable read that is perfect for the festive/winter season.
All books are available from Oban Waterstones, The Highland Bookshop and all other good bookshops.